Capital One Financial Corporation 401(k) match: 4.5% max
Capital One Financial Corporation Associate Savings Plan · COF · CIK 927628
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4.5%
Capital One Financial Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay, then 50% of the next 3% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4.5% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 29, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Capital One Financial puts in, and what the plan costs
What Capital One Financial put into the plan, per active participant
$10,312
Capital One Financial Corporation put $10,312 into this plan for each of its 45,199 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
Capital One Financial put in more per active participant than 93% of plans with 5,000+ participants at holding companies. The middle plan in that group of 62 reported $4,209. Holding companies comes from business code 551112, which Capital One Financial entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Capital One Financial pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 541719854, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $10,312 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Capital One Financial Corporation also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,228 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What Capital One Financial puts in
$2,228
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Contribution Type Contribution Structure 1. Basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution • 3% of eligible compensation 2. Company matching contribution • Up to 3% of eligible compensation, calculated as 100% Company match on the first 3% of associate deferrals • Up to 4.5% of eligible compensation, calculated as 50% Company match on the next 3% of associate deferrals Total annual contribution opportunity • Maximum of 7.5% of eligible compensation The basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution of 3% of eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document, is made for all eligible employees regardless of employee contributions to the Plan. In addition, the Company makes matching contributions of up to 4.5% of a participant’s eligible compensation. The Company makes “true-up” matching contributions for participants who did not receive the full match to which participants would have been entitled if participants had contributed to the Plan ratably throughout the year. Employees who have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions to the Plan during the Plan year are eligible for the Company matching contributions. The Company makes contributions on a per-pay period basis and new employees become immediately eligible for the Company’s matching contributions. All Company contributions are cash contributions.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 6% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
71.43 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 32% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 0%, 0%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Participant contributions and the Company’s basic safe-harbor non-elective contributions vest immediately, along with earnings on those contributions. The Company’s matching contributions plus actual earnings thereon vest after two years of service.”
The match starts with the job. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan is a defined contribution plan covering all employees of the Company who are age 18 or older (including any related companies that adopt the Plan). Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan immediately upon hire unless they elect to opt-out of Plan participation.”
The plan tops the match up after year end, so contributing unevenly through the year does not cost the worker part of it.
The same match paragraph, word for word
“Contribution Type Contribution Structure 1. Basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution • 3% of eligible compensation 2. Company matching contribution • Up to 3% of eligible compensation, calculated as 100% Company match on the first 3% of associate deferrals • Up to 4.5% of eligible compensation, calculated as 50% Company match on the next 3% of associate deferrals Total annual contribution opportunity • Maximum of 7.5% of eligible compensation The basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution of 3% of eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document, is made for all eligible employees regardless of employee contributions to the Plan. In addition, the Company makes matching contributions of up to 4.5% of a participant’s eligible compensation. The Company makes “true-up” matching contributions for participants who did not receive the full match to which participants would have been entitled if participants had contributed to the Plan ratably throughout the year. Employees who have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions to the Plan during the Plan year are eligible for the Company matching contributions. The Company makes contributions on a per-pay period basis and new employees become immediately eligible for the Company’s matching contributions. All Company contributions are cash contributions.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
98th percentile
$214.17 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 98% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Capital One Financial's 401(k) match formula?
Capital One Financial's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4.5% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll and the plan pays an annual true-up. What an annual true-up repays is the arithmetic behind that line: it matters most in a year when contributions land unevenly.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 50% of the next 3% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 4.5% of compensation |
| True-upA year-end recalculation that repays match lost to uneven contributions. | Yes, annual true-up |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | Employees who have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions during the Plan year are eligible for matching contributions; new employees are immediately eligible. Together with the 3% basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution, the maximum annual Company contribution is 7.5% of eligible compensation. |
| Other employer contribution | Basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution of 3% of eligible compensation, made for all eligible employees regardless of employee contributions to the Plan |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 6% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,025 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Contribution Type Contribution Structure 1. Basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution • 3% of eligible compensation 2. Company matching contribution • Up to 3% of eligible compensation, calculated as 100% Company match on the first 3% of associate deferrals • Up to 4.5% of eligible compensation, calculated as 50% Company match on the next 3% of associate deferrals Total annual contribution opportunity • Maximum of 7.5% of eligible compensation The basic safe-harbor non-elective contribution of 3% of eligible compensation, as defined in the Plan document, is made for all eligible employees regardless of employee contributions to the Plan. In addition, the Company makes matching contributions of up to 4.5% of a participant’s eligible compensation. The Company makes “true-up” matching contributions for participants who did not receive the full match to which participants would have been entitled if participants had contributed to the Plan ratably throughout the year. Employees who have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions to the Plan during the Plan year are eligible for the Company matching contributions. The Company makes contributions on a per-pay period basis and new employees become immediately eligible for the Company’s matching contributions. All Company contributions are cash contributions.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 29, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Capital One Financial's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Capital One Financial vests the employer match on a cliff schedule: nothing is yours until two years of service, then 100% at once. Leave a day early and the employer money goes back to the plan, the edge a two-year cliff creates.
| Employer match vesting | Cliff: 100% vested after 2 years of service |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Accelerated vesting | In the event of Plan termination, participants become 100% vested in any unvested amounts in their accounts |
| Other employer contributions | The Company's basic safe-harbor non-elective contributions vest immediately, along with earnings on those contributions |
Vesting, word for word
“Participant contributions and the Company’s basic safe-harbor non-elective contributions vest immediately, along with earnings on those contributions. The Company’s matching contributions plus actual earnings thereon vest after two years of service.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 29, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Capital One Financial's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Capital One Financial enrolls new hires automatically; the filing does not state the default deferral rate.
| Plan entry | All employees of the Company (including any related companies that adopt the Plan) who are age 18 or older; automatically enrolled immediately upon hire |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | New employees become immediately eligible for the Company's matching contributions; participants must have made pre-tax and/or Roth contributions during the Plan year |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default investment: BlackRock LifePath Index Non-Lendable Funds (target-date funds; the qualified default investment alternative for purposes of ERISA) |
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan is a defined contribution plan covering all employees of the Company who are age 18 or older (including any related companies that adopt the Plan). Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan immediately upon hire unless they elect to opt-out of Plan participation.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan immediately upon hire unless they elect to opt-out of Plan participation.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 29, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Capital One Financial plan report on Form 5500?
The Capital One Financial plan reported $12.0B in assets and 66,717 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $12,049,528,180 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 66,717 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $214.17 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $214.17 per participant. The median across plans at holding companies is $106.24, from the 612 of 643 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Fidelity Investments as its recordkeeper, one of 10,593 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
How does Capital One Financial's 401(k) match compare?
Capital One Financial Corporation's maximum 401(k) match of 4.5% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file at holding companies, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at holding companies.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also at holding companies.
Maximum match 3.5% of pay. Also at holding companies.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same 2-year cliff as Capital One Financial.
Compare Capital One Financial Corporation with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 29, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is Capital One Financial Corporation's 401(k) match?
Capital One Financial Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay, then 50% of the next 3% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4.5% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Capital One Financial Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Cliff: 100% vested after 2 years of service.
Does Capital One Financial Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default investment: BlackRock LifePath Index Non-Lendable Funds (target-date funds; the qualified default investment alternative for purposes of ERISA).
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Capital One Financial Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000927628-26-000072, plan year ended 2025-12-31.